The Beast And The Blessed

Thirty-Four: Killian

Killian’s P.O.V.

I wanted to wrap her up in my arms and carry her off to bed. Even better, I wanted to carry her to the shower, so I could strip her of her gown and touch her until she could only gasp my name.

Goddess! That was the sweetest sound of my life. I adored the way she cried out for me as I pleasured her. Since the night of her heat, I had it playing on repeat in my mind.

The small insecure part of me wanted to confirm with her, to double-check that she wasn’t going to walk away from me again, but I held my ground. I was still a king, even if she made me feel like a nervous teenager.

There was one last thing that was bothering me though, and I knew exactly who it was. Natalie had said that my jealous exes had humiliated her in front of the guests. Only one person had been lucky enough to join me in bed and remain in court.

It was only because her father was the head of my guard that I didn’t shun her from my court when she did what all the other women inevitably did. They tried to take the place of my queen and attempted to hold the power that they never had in the first place over me or my people. The abuse of nonexistent authority was laughable but was not something that I would make my people suffer through.

Those power-hungry women were always lurking around, and I tried my best to avoid them, dating very few before finding my mate. But now I had Natalie, and I didn’t need or want anyone else.

That *would be dealt with, but not tonight.

Tonight I would stay with my mate, holding my mate and forgetting about the horrors of today. The way one of my men hadn’t just been left for dead but had been impaled against the brick wall and bitten until they died from the poison… was more than the warning the first one had been. This one was a declaration of war. An open attack on my people and on my land.

I just needed to find where the bloodsuckers were hiding. As soon as I did, I was going to go in there myself and obliterate them. I would send them back to their maker with their organs pulled out of their mouths and hanging from their jaws.

They were too close to my people. Too close to my mate.

would have been different if they had made the presence known and agreed to

Now they would *.

nuzzling her head against my shoulder, and I held her

tried

body, I tried not to let

imagine a life without her.. Even when she was arguing with me, I found her to be the most adorable creature on the planet. I

had caught feelings for

my skin and made its nest in my veins. I would never be free of them. Resistance was futile. I knew

father when he fell for my mother? It seemed like it. He gave my mother everything she could ever want. Before he felt her betrayal for the first time, he stared at her like she hung

give Natalie anything

have patience with me, and I was going to do everything I could to be

even out, and she hummed back sleepily.

under my arm, against my body, before silently encouraging her to stand by placing my hands under her elbows. Her

the metal piece reached the end of its journey by her hips. I held her heated gaze,

I would. She deserved a man who would cherish her, and I would do better to be that for her. I had been so focused on not being weak like my father that I had forgotten to be

shorts. I could smell her desire,

of the evening were burned into my brain, and

until they were in place on her hips before standing up. Her hair was still styled elegantly, and the makeup she was wearing would need to come off, but it made me happy to see her

a question, and I nodded silently. “Can I try